The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing fatty confectionaries such as chocolates, white chocolates or the like which contain substantially no air therein and which have an excellent color, gloss and flavor.
Fatty confectionaries formed of chocolate mass used for chocolate blocks, chocolate-covered candies or cookies and the like and chocolate-like mass used for white chocolates, colored chocolates and the like have been susceptible to the admission of air therein when the latter is stirred in a chocolate reservoir associated with a blender, storage tank, tempering machine, depositor, or enrober or other coating apparatus in chocolate processing and molding steps, and a portion of this air is formed into bubbles distributed in the mass.
For forming fatty confectionaries such as chocolate blocks and the like with the use of molds, the chocolate or chocolate-like mass is filled into the mold by a filling apparatus such as a depositor or the like and then subjected to shaking or tapping. This causes a portion of the air bubbles contained therein to float on the top surface (bottom surface of the finished product) of the fatty mass or the area adjacent the top surface. The bubbles are then burst and scattered from the mass, thereby achieving partial deaerating. However, many fine bubbles are still left, dispersed in the mass, when the mass is cooled and solidified. The larger residual bubbles have a diameter of typically 20 to 50 microns, while the smaller residual bubbles have a diameter of typically 2 to 10 microns. The chocolate blocks and the like during molding are solidified with the bottom surface thereof having many bubble venting traces due to the removal of the bubbles during cooling and solidification. Hence, the products tend to have a rough surface due to the residual bubbles and bubble venting traces at the bottom surface and the area adjacent thereto.
For forming fatty confectionaries such as chocolate blocks with a confectionary center, the fatty mass is filled into the mold in the manner as aforementioned, and, upon reversing the mold, the mass is subjected to oscillation or vibration and scraping so as to remove the excess mass. The fatty mass left in the inner surface of the mold is then cooled and solidified to form the shell of the mass. The shell is then filled with a solid center material or with a liquid confectionary center after reversing the mold, after which the fatty mass is again filled into the mold and spread over the center with a scraper, then cooled and solidified. This operation is the so-called "shell molding" used for manufacturing fatty confectionaries with centers.
Disadvantages derived from shell molding are that the bottom surface of the fatty confectionary is rough, as above discussed, causing it to remarkably lose its gloss. Another disadvantage is that bubbles are dispersed and held adjacent the bottom surface of the fatty confectionary, resulting in a whitish color and lowering the gloss of the product. A further disadvantage is that the fine bubbles held in the interior of the fatty confectionary, if large in number, lower the hardness of the product, destroying the "snap" of the product, and bring out a heavy masticability and taste.
One prior art approach to removing the residual bubbles from fatty confectionaries such as chocolates and the like is to increase the amount of cacao butter in the composition to reduce the viscosity of the mass to allow the bubbles to more readily float to the surface of the mass and to readily burst. If necessary, an additional means is provided to more strongly shake or tap the mold, and more time can be spent shaking or tapping the mold. However, cacao butter is a very expensive material. Also, increasing the amount of cacao butter requires that the proportion of materials such as cacao mass, dried milk, sugar and the like be reduced, which adversely affects the taste of the product.
Stronger or longer shaking or tapping applied to the mold readily wears and damages the mold and produces much noise, thereby lowering the working conditions. With regard to quality, the viscosity of the chocolate mass in the mold is reduced by the shaking or tapping, which causes the fatty confectionary mass to reach above the desired height on the inner wall surfaces of the mold. Thus, the fatty confectionary mass demolded from the mold after cooling and solidifying is so shaped that a portion adjacent its side edges in contact with the side wall surface of the mold is thick and the center of the bottom is thin and has a concave bottom with variations therein. Still further, it is difficult to mold chocolate blocks in thin sheet form such as for so-called leaf chocolates or the like with a thickness of about 2 to 3 mm, thereby involving marked bottom defects in appearance. Increasing the time of shaking or tapping is effective for debubbling if the viscosity of the fatty confectionary mass is low, that is, less than about 20,000 cps, but is not effective if the viscosity is high, that is, more than about 25,000 to 30,000 cps. In addition, it is required that the molding speed be reduced or a longer shaking or tapping stroke be employed. In any event, disadvantages are involved in the attendant increase in the manufacturing cost.